Spectators pack Main Street for annual Fourth of July parade

Boy Scout Troop #505 march with United States flags during the start of the Spirit of Watsonville parade on Thursday. (Photos by Erik Chalhoub/Register-Pajaronian)

WATSONVILLE — And what a spirit it was, as more than 75 community groups marched, cheered, made music and more Thursday for the annual Spirit of Watsonville Fourth of July parade as thousands packed Main Street to take it all in.

Spectators lined the street on a sunny, not-too-hot Independence Day, some under umbrellas and tents or sitting in chairs or the beds of trucks parked in street-side lots.

Some waved American flags and applauded as participants processed their way about two-thirds of a mile down Main Street from Freedom Boulevard to First Street (a short block shy of Riverside Drive).

The parade lasted about two hours due to a wealth of participants — from community groups to civic leaders to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and those enthralled with sports, cheer, music, tricked-out bikes and cars, horses, agricultural history, folkloric dancing and more.

Rhonda Shipley and her husband, Gene, sat on the tailgate of a truck near Santa Barbara Bank and cheered for a large group from the American Cancer Society Relay of Life.

Shipley said she is a “10 1/2-year survivor of breast cancer” and will not miss the upcoming local relay and never misses the parade.

“It’s fantastic,” she said. “We come every year. It’s just great to see Watsonville come together like this. It always brings out a lot of people.”